Elephant in the Room
Elephant in the Room
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Elephant in the Room
Some online lessons in Geography.
The idea is to look at some of the big themes in Geography from a slightly different perspective, to encourage better questioning and to reward good thinking.
Переглядів: 191

Відео

People vs Trees
Переглядів 503 роки тому
We all know deforestation is a bad idea. But we're doing it anyway. Why? Here's the worksheet referred to in the video - drive.google.com/file/d/1Ce09OetkmVM9mDv7f28tNB7IRFl4zsWq/view?usp=sharing This short online lesson looks into social, economic and environmental factors around deforestation near Manaus, deep in the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil. It explores the diverse but connected problems ...
What the Prisoner's Dilemma tells us
Переглядів 423 роки тому
Is trusting each other irrational? Or is it really distrust that's irrational? A short discussion about the Prisoner's Dilemma and the Nash Equilibrium, from Game Theory and the Cold War.
Too many priorities?
Переглядів 483 роки тому
Making lists isn't at the top of most people's list. But what is? Is your list so long it's useless? Is it more pain than gain? A few minutes thought can really help you focus your effort.
Brian's web of stuff
Переглядів 383 роки тому
Learning a bit about how you learn is some of the best learning you can do! Praise points for Olive for the excellent mind map idea!
A short stroll through geological time
Переглядів 423 роки тому
Geography isn't just about space - it's about time too. Having a rough idea about what happened when can be really useful.
Why climate change is such a challenge
Переглядів 1103 роки тому
Online lesson about climate change and global warming, explained in terms of the Carbon Cycle, and providing a simple framework for some of the complex science and issues around climate protests, IPCC, the Paris Agreement and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change mitigation and adaptation options. Suitable for KS2, KS3 GCSE students, people working towards their UNFCCC accredita...
Inequality in society and in nature
Переглядів 2083 роки тому
How much inequality is there? Is it natural? Let's use Gini coefficients to find out. Inequality, the poverty and wealth in human systems, is examined from the point of view of various development indicators - GDP per capita, the Human Development Index, CO2 emissions per person and Happiness. Inequality in these things is measured by the Gini index or Gini coefficient. This is then compared to...
Humboldt and the idea of nature
Переглядів 644 роки тому
Humboldt was a scientist and adventurer who invented the way we look at nature. Perhaps there's still a lot we can learn from his approach.
The Global Water Cycle
Переглядів 644 роки тому
Geography is more than just a load of disconnected details - it's about how the details fit together. A look at the global water cycle, including some interesting calculations designed to make you think.
Gaia, Daisyworld and Feedbacks
Переглядів 4554 роки тому
What is the Gaia Hypothesis? How is it thought to work? Is it "unscientific"? A brief look at a sometimes controversial theory for making sense of natural systems. Includes some challenging questions designed to make you think. The Gaia Hypothesis or Gaia Theory is a systems view of nature and Earth, developed by James Lovelock in the 1960s and 1970s. It's based on the idea that nature is compo...
Population & Sustainability - are we all doomed?
Переглядів 4134 роки тому
How is population changing across the world? Is sustainability possible? Let's have a proper look. a) Here's the Dollar Street link for one of the exercises - www.gapminder.org/dollar-street/matrix?lowIncome=500&highIncome=1000 b) Download latest version of Gapminder Offline from here www.gapminder.org/tools-offline/. You can 'Add data to the active chart' (3 lines, top right), and conduct your...
Humans & Resources - Beyond Malthus and Boserup
Переглядів 12 тис.4 роки тому
A discussion about food supply and population growth, with some questions designed to make you think. Boserupian and Malthusian theories simply explained. These simple models of population growth and agricultural development in many ways sum up our ideas about the challenges we face, but they represent the extremes about how we think about "limits to growth". Perhaps using them in combination p...

КОМЕНТАРІ

  • @MOTOBOLAVIRUS
    @MOTOBOLAVIRUS Рік тому

    Your elephant is a mouse, the only reason the population is leveling off is because of the W H O and their mass vaccine initiative worldwide. The only reason food levels went up was due to genetic modification of the food supply causing cancers to skyrocket. Pharma is making money lowering the population and they will make money on the other end with fertility meds....lol MALTHUS WAS CORRECT, BECAUSE THE GOLDEN RATIO ALWAYS WINS 🏆 And most economists know this

  • @gunitsharma6997
    @gunitsharma6997 2 роки тому

    Was very helpful

  • @albalindberg1999
    @albalindberg1999 3 роки тому

    Thank you

  • @momopapa9826
    @momopapa9826 3 роки тому

    Thanks now i know more

  • @Pier-wy6dd
    @Pier-wy6dd 3 роки тому

    As far I know, there are several factors and a lot of contradictions. The equation will be correct IF politics, economic management, means of productions, etc... are not considered Unfortunately there are several factors, each one is a burden to the next one. I do not find those theories either wrong or right. Let's say: right now some people are starved to death, at the same time, somewhere else food wastage because over dated (best before of the end / used by). Even the word "food" is tricky, it may vary from area to area, because religion(s), intolerance, etc... . In my mind I have more questions and doubts than answers.

    • @elephantintheroom8609
      @elephantintheroom8609 3 роки тому

      Maybe the two theories in this video (separately or together) are really too simple to account for complicated reality. They're simple models after all, even though they reflect some of the political positions we sometimes adopt. I suppose the question is, do things like politics and economic management change the fundamental "limits to growth" idea these models are about?

    • @Pier-wy6dd
      @Pier-wy6dd 3 роки тому

      ​@@elephantintheroom8609 Thank you for your reply. I also like your insightful approach to the topic. Nevertheless " ....too simple to account for complicated reality"; yes, I totally agree. If it is a genuine story (Tomatoes and greed - the exodus of Ghana's farmers ), it also is a good example how political-economic factors affect - more or less - people around the world. Of course there will be growth limits; however, the equation "food : people = pro-capita" exclude all other factors. About my life, too many decades in the food industry, including (some) nasty things in plants and animals I already saw it. Do not get me wrong, I try to be realistic in all aspects.

  • @simonthomsen7542
    @simonthomsen7542 3 роки тому

    Thanks for this comprehensive overview, you could add also the thoughts of David Ricardo on land, who I believe was contemporary to Malthus. However, what is bothering me is the idea that population growth and food demand is necessarily increasing linearly in their proportion. Most of the population growth in the last decades has taken place in so called emerging economies in the Global South. While the population growth rate is declining, the diets of the people in the countries is changing according to the economic condition. So, maybe we will see a rising food demand (or better said, more land use for the production of meat and dairy products) but not necessarily an equally growing population. Looking forward to your comment.

    • @elephantintheroom8609
      @elephantintheroom8609 3 роки тому

      Well, I agree that population and food supply aren't necessarily proportional, and that as populations get richer their demands on land increase. The Boserupian phase of the curve has to include this increasing demand per person to avoid Malthusian catastrophe, like famines, and I'm sure it hasn't always managed to do it. Provided the demand on land per person is not just limitless though, at some point total demand would peak and tip over into a more stable phase. There's maybe a helpful discussion about "ecological footprints" and sustainability in the Populations & Sustainabilty video on this channel (ua-cam.com/video/ljnjJitSb3I/v-deo.html). You could use the data at the bottom of that video to explore the risk in more detail.

  • @christopherhahn4391
    @christopherhahn4391 4 роки тому

    Fleeting packets of salty water held in thin carbon membranes...the best description of animal life on Earth ever and makes all the important committee meetings held by chimps and humans alike seem utterly pointless. If we accept the fact we are fleeting packets of salty water held in thin carbon membranes and the part we play in the water cycle maybe we'd feel less attached to Black Friday and Cyber Monday discount codes on Amazon this time of year and focus more on the real Amazon...the precious jungle that is probably impossible to replace

  • @alexshapiro9841
    @alexshapiro9841 4 роки тому

    Only consider that our economies across the world rely on economic growth, and economic growth relies on population growth. Aging nations such as in Japan already see 0% growth in their economies for decades. The global economy still expands due to population growth in other countries such as China, but this period apparently already came to an end. We have to re-think our economic models fast, or we are facing an unprecedented challenge.

    • @elephantintheroom8609
      @elephantintheroom8609 3 роки тому

      Couldn't agree more! The relationship between population and economic growth is discussed in another video in this series "Population & Sustainability - are we all doomed?" ( ua-cam.com/video/ljnjJitSb3I/v-deo.html ), and expanded on in "Is human inequality unnatural?" ( ua-cam.com/video/lcxGmRr5MlQ/v-deo.html ).